I can’t believe I’m already 20 days into my 30 Days of Blogging challenge! Ah! Today, I’m interviewing Chelsea Sterling. She’s the author of The Eddanor Chronicles, a monster romance series, and two fun romantic comedies! I hope you will all enjoy learning a bit more about her and her books. Share this interview to support Chelsea!
Eliza: Thank you so much for joining me today! I’m really excited to learn more about you and The Eddanor Chronicles.
Chelsea: Thank you! And thank you so much for having me.
Eliza: To kick things off, who is your favorite character to write and why?
Chelsea: Florence Nettleton, who is the main character in my newest book, is just so much fun to write. She knows when to be serious, but mostly will seek fun in every situation. The back-and-forth banter between her and Takar – where she inevitably scores another point – was an absolute dream to write.
Eliza: What inspired you to write “The Witch and The Monster”? Were there any specific events, stories, or experiences that influenced the creation of this novel?
Chelsea: I had written a similar short story once for a fan fiction where somebody was sent as a village sacrifice off into the woods. I also read a book called Cunning Women by Elizabeth Lee about witchcraft in a small, historical village which helped me to shape Wittsturm.I decided to take a break from writing a different series, but my hands or mind can never stay idle so The Witch and The Monster was born.
Eliza: All of your books have romantic elements in them, but they are in different genres (monster/horror romance, contemporary/new adult romance). What made you decide to publish them under the same name, rather than splitting them into multiple pen names or dropping your contemporary romance into a fantastical world? (No judgment, by the way, I write in at least 3 different genres under the same pen name!)
Chelsea: I write the books that I want to read. I think sometimes as a reader, I tend to stick with authors and I’m always delighted if they’ve written across genres for a palette cleanser. Although The Eddanor Chronicles are monster/shifter romances, they exist in a historical fantasy world. I absolutely love fantasy but I always like a little romance woven in there too. As a self-published author, it’s so difficult to build up a following so splitting into multiple pen names and having different accounts would just make my brain pop.
Eliza: There are currently 3 books in The Eddanor Chronicles. Do you have the whole series plotted beforehand or do you just go off the cuff?
Chelsea: When I started the first, I knew it would have spin-offs about different couples. Iasmina was created around the same time as Cora so I knew that she would feature in the second book but Juran changed a lot. He originally was going to be an aggressive alpha male – then I realised that just wouldn’t work for a terrified not-witch like Iasmina. When I wrote Fellen, I knew I’d write a book about his noble, older brother so Florence became the perfect balance for Takar and I fed her into the series early on too. Generally, I know the who but not always the what!
Eliza: How long did it take you to write your first book, from book concept to “The End”?
Chelsea: The Story of Old: Beginning was the first book and I started writing that at 18 but only published it in December 2022 (11 years later). It was chopped and changed a lot, but the original writing probably took me about a year whilst enduring a miserable time at university. In comparison, The Wench and The Gentleman took me around nine weeks to write eighty-thousand words.
Eliza: It can be difficult to feel like your book is “ready” when you don’t have an agent or a company behind you to tell you when. How did you decide when it was time to publish?
Chelsea: I built up a following from fanfiction and I had mentioned that I’d written original books but had not found an agent for them, so they encouraged me to let the story into the world. That was terrifying! I don’t think I’m ever ready to let them go though as I start writing the sequels and want to go back and add more foreshadowing. Once I get about 80% through the writing process, I set a release date because I’m obsessed with deadlines and to-do lists then power through with edits and redrafting or I’d stay in limbo.
Eliza: What’s next for you? Which books are you working on now and what can readers expect from you in 2024?
Chelsea: I’m writing the fourth (and final) book in The Eddanor Chronicles which ties together the whole story. I’ve also got another book that I’ve been sitting on for about two years which I’m really excited about. Hopefully, that will be released in late summer/early autumn.
Find Out More About Chelsea Starling
You can keep up with Chelsea and her books by following her on Instagram and Goodreads. The Eddanor Chronicles and her other books are available now on Amazon.
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